June 4, 2014
As regular guest author in the past here on Yucalandia, Lic. Spencer McMullen offers foreigners some of the best information and legal services to the expat community in Mexico. Today, Lic. McMullen describes a new Aduana website for checking the status of Temporary Import Permits (TIPs) for foreign-plated cars in Mexico. Without further ado, here’s Spencer’s good report:

After some time and errors the past few months, Aduana’s web site is now working, allowing one to check issuance of vehicle import permits online. You can check with the temporary import permit number or VIN number and passport number to get details of the permit issuance date and expiration date.

I don’t think this is necessarily good news as Aduana has been sloppy with their extensions and immigration has been giving people their new immigration cards with dates of a few weeks to a few months before people receive them thereby making the 15 day notification period impossible to comply with.

Lic. McMullen serves the expat community in the Lake Chapala area, and can be contacted at http://chapalalaw.com/ for legal help. Mexican licensed attorney (Cédula #7928026) and official court translator (Perito Traductor). Mx 376-765-7553

I have a favor to ask of Yucalandia readers, since we do not have a foreign-plated TIP car, (both of our vehicles have Mexican plates), we were unable to test the new Aduana website and tell us how it worked. Could someone out there use their TIP information, and check if the Aduana website is working properly now, and describe how it works.

I checked the status of my TIP Using the website provided. The TIP was issued in 2010. The number of the TIP was used as well as the passport number. The result showed the VIN number of the vehicle along with a Status Report which indicated: 01 Alta Normal. I have no idea what this means if anyone can help.

No Steve, no expiration date. The reply simply gave the vin number of the car, the passport number (both of which I used in my status request), and the status of: 01 Alta Normal. Interestingly I had not contacted Aduana to update my immigration status for the last two years. But then again, I don’t know what 01 Alta Normal means to Aduana so I don’t know where I stand with them. I’ll try to forward the reply to you.

We are are having a problem. . We Perm. imported our car thur a broker. He told us to TIP import and when we got there he would get the tags. We paid him a lot of money to perm. import. We have been told by the import (Linea in Progreso) they can not import. Also our brokers to import called Mex. city and they said the car is already in Mx and can not come back in Tip. The perm import broker says we should go to Aduana and an Tip export permit and then bring back in Tip and he can finish the perm import. This does not make sense to us and we have someone checking on this. Your impute would be greatly appreciated. Thank You Myra

Hi Myra,
What is the name of the broker who supposedly got you the “Per. import” ?

Do you have a “pedimento” document for the car for the supposed permanent import from Aduana?
What type of Mexican visa does the car owner have?
Where is the car now?
What kind of car and what model year?

You mention a “TIP export permit“, but there is no such thing.

If the car is inside Mexico illegally, you apply with Hacienda/SAT to get a free 5 business day Retorno Seguro permit to drive the car out to a border. At the Belize border, if you have a Residente Temporal or Visitors visa, then you could get a TIP for your car there. Permanent imports are done at the US-Mexico border. See our main article on cars in Mexico at: https://yucalandia.com/driving-in-mexico-issues-fun/importing-driving-a-car-in-mexico/

We might be able to give you some workable answers if we knew the answers to the questions we asked at the top of this email.
steve

(1) We used “I Go Yucatan” Alfonso Galindo
(2) Yes we have a Pedimento. It says that the car was imported at Baja California Mex. ( I would attach but see no way to do that)
(3) I have a perm and my husband has a temp. The car is in both our names. The Pedimento does not list either name.
(4) The car is in the US. The car has never been in Mx.
(5) The car is a 2007 Chev. Tahoe

Hi Myra,
What you have described is that only half (or less) of the job has been completed so far. You still need a factura (bill of sale) showing you are the owner, and you need state registration and license plates in your name.

Do you have a factura (official bill of sale) for the Tahoe showing that you are the current owner?

If the pedimento for the permanent import was recorded in someone else’s name, then the person on the pedimento is the real legal owners of the Tahoe. Some facilitators doing paper-only imports (where the car is not inspected or processed at the border) use a paper-shuffle process, where they sell your vehicle to a dealer or broker at the border (on paper), the dealer/broker becomes the official owner of the Tahoe. As a Mexican business, the dealer/broker is legally allowed to bring in the vehicle, and permanently import it, without Aduana ever inspecting it.

The next step in that “paper-only” process is usually for you to buy the car back from the dealer/broker – which can mean you owe an additional 16% IVA sales taxes on the vehicle’s value, on top of the Aduana import fees, and on top of the facilitators fees, and on top of the dealer/Broker’s fees. And then you may have to also pay ownership taxes (tenencias) and other fees to get your State registration (like from Yucatan state). => Doing it that way can get expensive – fast/

Push Sr. Galindo to get you a legally registered vehicle – with legitimate state license plates, and with a legal/valid factura in your name that makes you the legal owner (again) – all for the agreed-upon price.
steve

Myra,
With the pedimento, I believe you can get a permit at the border that allows you a window of time to drive to your state and get plates. Sr. Galindo should know these things…

Still it seems like he has not told you everything.
Who is the current owner, on paper?
Whose name is on the pedimento?
What needs to be done next?
What are the exact steps required for you to enter Mexico, have Aduana let you pass with the paperwork you need, and for you to get proper insurance for the drive through Mexico?

Hi Myra,
Unfortunately, with the special rules for bringing cars in through seaports, the licensed customs brokers are right: You cannot.

Is there any paperwork, dated after the date on the Pedimento (Pedimento is in someone else’s name?) that shows you as the owner? If you had current valid paperwork showing you as the owner, you could try to drive the car into Mexico.
steve

I just used the website but it didn’t have an expiration date, just said “05 Prorroga”. Should I be worried? I’ve been working through an office, and have returned 5 times to pick up the updated letter, but each time they till me it’s not ready yet. I’m wondering if they are actually doing anything as it should reflect on the website that it’s ‘actual’, correct?

Several months ago, before returning to Mexico, I checked the status of our TIP onthe Aduana web site. I was given all the correct information including the expiry date. We were surprized to learn that the expiry date was only 30 days after it was issued. This vehicle is staying in Mexico so we’ll wait until we licence it permanently in three more years, to see the ramifications of this.

Hi Lisa,
Once you have your Residente Temporal permit, you can apply to have Aduana DF extend the expiration date of your TIP to match your RT visa’s expiration date. Aduana DF has done this for many people, even with expired TIPs, as long as you did not allow your RT to expire.

I checked the status on a vehicle that I drove out of Mexico Jan/2010; the status is “03 Returno”. Anyone know what this means? I hope it means the vehicle legally left the country, because I have paperwork that says it did. Thanks